After election losses, calls for Mass. GOP makeover

By Chris Camire, ccamire@lowellsun.com

Updated:
11/10/2012 07:10:35 AM EST

After being handed a crushing defeat in Tuesday's election, the Massachusetts Republican Party is in need of a major makeover if it has any hope of regaining its footing in the Bay State, political observers warn.

Besides the demoralizing defeats of Republicans U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Congressional candidate Richard Tisei, the state GOP squandered gains made at the state level during the 2010 midterm elections.

Republicans failed to beat a single incumbent Democrat in House and Senate races, while three Republican state representatives were ousted from office. Two years ago, Republicans more than doubled their numbers in the Statehouse.

"The party has to change its identity, and I don't just mean image. There really needs to be a new GOP for it to become a credible alternative again," said Republican strategist Todd Domke. "The problem is not just that the GOP can't even recruit candidates for most offices, but there is a perception that even compared to national Republicans, the state Republicans are more closed, more of a country club kind of party."

Democrats held onto their 36-4 advantage over Republicans in the state Senate. In the House, Republicans saw their ranks fall from 33 to 29 in the 160-member chamber.

Stonehill College political science professor Peter Ubertaccio said Bay State Republicans are feeling the pain that comes with decades of failing to build their party from the ground up.

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Moreover, he said, too many Republicans at the local level run far-right campaigns that do not resonate with voters in a state that favored President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney by 61 to 38 percent.

"There are, I think, too many Republican Party members in Massachusetts who believe an extreme tea-party message is going to win them office here," said Ubertaccio. "Despite all the evidence to the contrary, they continue to act as if running against progressives, running against liberals, is all it's going to take to win."

Rep. Paul Adams, R-Andover, who tried to unseat Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, in the 2nd Essex and Middlesex District, was trounced by 30 points. In the Middlesex and Worcester District, Sen. Jamie Eldridge celebrated a 30-point victory over his Republican challenger, Dean Cavaretta.

Ubertaccio said Massachusetts Republicans need leaders who are willing to get their hands dirty on the grass-roots level. To enjoy success, he said the party must focus on rebuilding town committees, recruiting support door-to-door and committing evenings to attending Kiwanis Club and Chamber of Commerce meetings.

"If they can't put together the leadership in the party that's willing to do that over the next decade, then they really ought to just turn out the lights," he said.

Tim Buckley, spokesman for the state Republican Party, did not respond to requests for comment.

Rejecting Republicans is nothing new in Massachusetts.

The state last elected a Republican to a U.S. House seat in 1994. Before Brown, Massachusetts had not elected a Republican U.S. senator since Edward Brooke in 1972. He was defeated by Lowell Democrat Paul Tsongas in 1978.

Still, Massachusetts has shown a willingness to send Republicans to the governor's office. From 1991 to 2007, Massachusetts was governed by Republicans, with William Weld winning election in 1990 and 1994, Paul Cellucci winning election in 1998 and Romney winning election in 2002.

Democratic political strategist Mary Anne Marsh said these Republicans were able to convince voters that the state would benefit with a Democratic-controlled Legislature and a Republican-controlled executive branch.

"What they were able to do was demonize Democrats on Beacon Hill and make a positive case for themselves that they were the only sheriffs in town who would keep the democrats in check," she said.

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